The existence of tradeoffs and synergies between ecosystem services emphasize the need to understand the preferences of ecosystem service beneficiaries. In this paper, the preferences of ecosystem services provided by different types of urban forests in South Korea are analyzed to provide insights on the improved distribution and supply of ecosystem services. The Delphi technique was utilized to elicit expert opinions on the categorization of ecosystem services provided by urban forests. A choice experiment on 500 Seoul citizens was then conducted to analyze the preferences for 7 types of ecosystem servicesfood provision, water flow regulation, noise reduction, microclimate regulation & air quality improvement, moderation & prevention of landslides, biodiversity enhancement, recreation, and health services. An AHP analysis was carried out to investigate experts' ranking of the relative importance of these ecosystem services. The results showed that except for microclimate regulation & air quality improvement, Seoul citizens' preferences for different types of urban forests did not differ according to the attribute level of each ecosystem service. There were also no significant differences between the preferences for urban natural parks and urban neighborhood parks, possibly indicating that Seoul citizens perceive them to be similar. Secondly, the results indicate a higher preference for urban forests with certain features, such as a higher proportion of fruit trees and deciduous trees, higher leaf area, denser tree canopy cover, wider distances between trees, and higher levels of species richness. The enhancement of biodiversity was considered the most influential service for Seoul citizens in their choice of urban forests. Seoul citizens were willing to pay 12,176 KRW/year and 21,036 KRW/year to enhance the level of biodiversity from "poor" to "average" and from "average" to "rich," respectively. Finally, preferences and relative importance for almost all ecosystem services were different for citizens and experts. As it is impossible to maximize the provision of all ecosystem services concurrently, policymakers and urban forest managers need to consider citizens' preferences and opinions when designing and managing urban forests in order to increase user satisfaction and welfare.
Ecosystem services (ESs) play an important role in improving human well-being. This study identified the changes in people’s perceived importance of forest ecosystem services (FESs) due to changes in forest use caused by the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. We measured the changes in people’s perceived importance of FESs during the pandemic compared to before its outbreak. We analyzed how the decrease in frequency of visits to urban greenspaces and forests and the purchasing of wood products and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) during the pandemic affected changes in the perceived importance of FESs using a multiple linear regression model. Data were collected from 1000 participants through an online survey conducted in the Republic of Korea. Results showed that respondents commonly perceived that all types of FES, particularly regulating and cultural services, were more important during the COVID-19 outbreak than before its onset. Results suggest that people who had decreased their frequency of visits to urban greenspaces and forests had a perception of higher importance for regulating and cultural services than those who maintained it. This study proposes that it is necessary to change urban greenspace and forest management policies reflecting the public’s changed importance of FESs.
Some forest-dependent rural communities participate in the Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) program in South Korea, which provides the local people with access to national forests for the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in return for their contribution to the management of national forests. This study investigated what factors influenced rural communities’ participation in CFM and how their participation in CFM affected livelihood strategies and income level. Households in 17 villages near the Seoul National University (SNU) forests owned by the Government were interviewed. The study found that CFM participating households tend to choose diversified livelihood strategies. CFM participating households with diversified livelihood strategies are likely to have a higher income than non-CFM participating households choosing sectoral focus strategies. Expansion of the CFM program is suggested as a policy option to improve forest-dependent rural livelihood. However, ageing and female-headed households are faced with difficulties in participating in CFM due to their physical ability of forestry work while new settlers restricted access to forest resources. There is a need for innovation in forest governance for equitable distribution of forest services for both original and new residents to achieve sustainable rural livelihoods.
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